Jeddah 15th March 2023: The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) while commemorating the ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia 2023’, highlighted the need to integrate all international stakeholders in the initiatives to counter Islamophobia, which represents a contemporary form of racism and must be addressed as such. In this regard, the Commission called on the international Community to adopt a legally binding international instrument to prevent the growing acts of religious intolerance, hatred, and discrimination, including Islamophobia, and to foster the culture of peace and coexistence.

The Commission expressed its deep concerns over the rising trend of Islamophobia manifested through official policies, such as imposition of bans on hijab and burkini and other Islamic practices, in addition to mob attacks against mosques, online hate and recent acts of desecration against Holy Quran in many Scandinavian countries. The Commission is appalled at the Islamophobic discriminations encountered by Muslims, and condemned such acts of discrimination which are prejudicial to fundamental freedoms and violates right of everyone to be free from any discrimination and coercion as guaranteed under international human rights law.
The Commission highlighted that Islamophobia, in recent years,has turned into an ideology that found its way into the political agendas of right-wing extremist groups, seeking to make political gains by promoting hatred against Islam and Muslims.In addition, the media has often played a negative role in exacerbating the stereotypes against Islam and Muslims, which led to an increase in acts of incitement, discrimination, and hatred against Muslims in different parts of the world. Accordingly, the Commission called upon OIC Member States to bridge the perceptional gap and play a vital role to put up a legal and constitutional struggle in courts and media topropagate a positive image of Islam in order to overcome ‘ignorance’ and ‘fear’ and to counter the menace of Islamophobia.

Islam is a religion of peace, and millions of Muslims are playinga vibrant role in promoting a multicultural society across the world. However, the growing political rhetoric against the religion of Islam, including those coming from mainstream leadership in some countries, could further widen the schism to the detriment of the fulfillment of the human rights ideals. In this regard, any attempt to associate Islam or its ideological foundations with terrorism and extremism is not only fundamentally flawed but also counterproductive for the creation of peaceful and harmonious coexistence, the Commission added.

This rising trend of Islamophobia, and its resultant persecution of Muslim communities, living under occupation or as minorities in different parts of the world, poses serious danger to the spirit of multiculturalism and pluralism. Hate crimes motivated by racism, xenophobia and related intolerance, coupled with impunity for perpetrators, not only create a climate of fear, but also promote marginalization and social exclusion of the persons targeted by those crimes. Persecution of Muslims and other forms of discrimination faced by Muslims in different parts of the world, particularly in some Asian and European countries are stark reminders of the widening religious and cultural fault-lines and intensification of identity challenges among the marginalized communities.

The Commission highlighted that the State’s obligations as a guarantor of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion are one of the key pillars of a democratic society. Accordingly, it called upon all States to utilize all essential tools including necessary legislation, administrative measures and law enforcement to combat all forms of discrimination and violence, which includes Islamophobia. Particularly, the Commission proposed to the OIC Member States to: (a) counter Islamophobia based on a holistic approach, including the engagements with media to propagate a counter narrative to Islamophobia worldwide; (b) activate OIC Observatory to coordinate with other likeminded observatories to make their reports more visible and submit them to the international human rights mechanisms to highlight the human rights violations emerging from Islamophobia; (c) intensify their efforts to produce a civilizational form of Islamic discourse to address the misunderstandings and misleading perceptions about Islam; (d) cooperate with other observatory centers, both religious and otherwise, including civil society across the world, and should campaign to legislate laws that criminalize all forms of hate speech, including Islamophobia; (e) provide adequate human and financial resources to OIC Islamophobia Observatory to carry out the mandated tasks.